The addition of rancid yak butter and salt to the tea gives it the consistency of thick soup and a memorable flavour, probably something like that of greasy dish water.

A grey curtain masks the entrance to the gompa. A monk, playing the role of master of ceremonies, pulls it aside to check that all is in place. He marches around the courtyard and roughly pushes the audience back to create space for the dancers. Finally he is satisfied: the stage is set and the entertainment, a fourteen-scene masked dance drama, begins.

Heralds descend the stone steps from the gompa entrance in single file; incense bearers follow in their wake, purifying the atmosphere in preparation for what will follow. Musicians come down, blowing clarions and bugles, clashing cymbals and beating drums. The dun chen players keep to their corner and issue two deep notes to bring each dance to a close. There is no clapping or cheering; such gestures are considered inappropriate and unnecessary.

Shrill notes of bugles announce the first dance. The vibrant costumes of eight dancers appear on the steps and sweep down into the courtyard. With short, hesitant steps they make clockwise circles around the altar, sprinkling to the Buddhist gods offerings of torma, balls of parched barley flour, and chang, a local beer made from fermented millet. Milky in colour, it is a potent brew that during the festival takes on the properties of Holy Water.